Chapter 436 Is He My Son
“Yes, there is a mine on the mountain. It’s hard to build a road up the mountain, so the owner of the mine hired many adults and children from the village to carry the mining products from the mountain…” Rick said.
Ethen could not imagine how a young child could work.
Benjamin went into the house and took a look around.
The house consisted of three rooms. The one in the middle was the living room.
The other two rooms were most likely bedrooms.
One of the rooms had a big bed made by combining a few benches.
“Mary and Tim stayed in this room,” Rick explained.
The room was messy, but it was clean.
The other bedroom belonged to Raphael. None of the doors had locks and were only partially closed.
Anyone could enter and leave freely. Furthermore, the kitchen consisted only of a thatched roof surrounded by a fence.
The house was dilapidated and had nothing of value.
If Ethen had not seen the house in person, he would not have believed that there was still such severe poverty in this modern age.
Benjamin glanced at the surroundings and felt uncomfortable about what he saw.
It saddened him to think that his child grew up in such an impoverished surroundings.
“Mr. Graham, we must find them fast,” Ethen said.
Mary and Tim were not at home. Therefore, they could not ascertain whether Tim was the child they had been searching for.
Benjamin nodded, and Ethen immediately ordered his subordinates to find where the boy went.
They analyzed where a child and an old lady could go at night.
“Mr. Griffin, can you tell us about their daily life?” Benjamin sat on a stone bench and looked at the messy kitchen. He frowned when he thought there might have been a scuffle earlier based on the state of the place.
Rick sighed and told Benjamin about Tim’s life. “Mary and James loved the boy and regarded him as their own. Unfortunately, life became difficult after Raphael came out of prison. Raphael liked gambling, so he would often force them to give him money and would beat them up if they refused.”
He took a deep breath and continued, “Later, James’ sickness recurred and worsened rapidly. He soon passed away, leaving only Mary and Tim. Since Mary could hardly walk and had many illnesses, she could not work. Thus, it fell onto Tim to provide for the family. He had to go out to work for their living expenses and Mary’s medical expenses. Perhaps Tim brought Mary to see a doctor. I think the mine workers were paid their salary yesterday.”
At that, Ethen ordered someone to check at the hospital.
Benjamin’s expression darkened, and he emanated an icy aura. “How did Raphael treat him?”
Rick was stunned for a moment before realizing that Benjamin was talking about Tim. “Terrible. Raphael frequently scolded and beat Tim up. Furthermore, he even wanted to sell Tim, but Mary protected the boy from him. Since Tim has been earning money, Raphael had probably taken him to his debtors as security for his debts.”
Benjamin turned grim with fury. “Why did you not call the police?”
Rick sighed. “It’s a complicated matter, and the police are reluctant to get involved in family matters. As long as it is not too much, no one would report to the police.”
Just then, Ethen obtained the town’s surveillance footage and quickly sought Rick’s confirmation. “Mr. Griffin, is this old lady and child them?”
Rick went to Ethen’s side and looked at it before nodding. “Yeah, it’s them. It seems they have gone to the town.”
Benjamin got up and glanced at the surveillance footage. It showed Tim’s back but not his face.
“We’re going to the town,” he ordered, and Ethen immediately led a team to search in town.
However, they could not find Tim or Mary even after a few hours.
“Mr. Graham, the police station’s surveillance cameras caught Tim…” Ethen said.
Benjamin frowned and ordered, “Show me.”
Ethen quickly obtained the surveillance footage and showed it to Benjamin.
In the footage, Tim appeared for a while before disappearing out of the camera’s range.
Benjamin paused the video and enlarged the image.
The image showed Tim’s dirty face. Thus, Benjamin was unable to identify whether he was the missing child.
“Do the comparison now,” he instructed.
“Yes, sir!” Ethen immediately uploaded Gavin and Tim’s photos into the software to compare their facial contour.
Benjamin appeared tense as he waited for the result. He had never felt this nervous before.
Could that boy really be my son?
